The Deluxe is a sleek clamshell phone featuring an external antenna. The body is a gunmetal gray plastic, with small accents such as the speaker and camera housings being black. When compared with previous iDEN offerings the phone is sleek and svelte, but compared to its CDMA compatriots the Deluxe is rather large. Still, the lines are very clean and the Deluxe has an excellent in-hand feel. It has some heft to it, but the balance in your hand makes the weight give it a quality feel.

Model

Dimension (Inches)

Dimension (mm)

Weight (oz)

Weight (Gramms)

Motorola Deluxe ic902

3.78" x 1.96" x 0.86"

96 x 50 x 21.8

4.76

135

Motorola i880

3.55" x 1.97" x 0.97"

90 x 50 x 24.6

4.34

123

MotoRAZR2 v9m

4.06" x 2.1" x 0.47"

103 x 53 x 11.9

3.60

4.13

LG Fusic

3.78" x 1.89" x 0.78"

96 x 48 x 19.8

4.23

120

As with all previous iDEN models, the Deluxe sports an external antenna on the top left side of the phone. It is integrated well with the phone’s lines, but makes it awkward to cradle the unit between your ear and shoulder (especially on your right side.) Motorola has gone to great extremes to make this an attractive, dare we say non-iDEN looking device, and even the antenna has an embossed design on it. The Deluxe is slightly v-shaped, and Motorola has chosen to highlight this with the lines around the external display and embossed pattern running along the side of the phone.

The external display and camera monopolize the front of the flip. It is a 65k color 120x160 display, and along the top the user will find status indicators including signal strength, DC availability, DC speaker, ringer, Bluetooth, message icon and battery. Network indication is just below, with the time and date on the bottom of the screen. The background mirrors that of the inner display, and cannot be set separately. The display is a good size, crisp, and bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight. Above it is a 2mp camera and LED flash. Between the camera and display sits the Sprint logo, a detail that is not insignificant. Previous PowerSource phones features a prominent Nextel logo, with a tiny “From Sprint” underneath. A shiny Motorola M is found at the bottom of the flip.

External Display

2 Megapixel Camera

On the right side of the Deluxe one will find a handy flip-open button at the top, similar to the one found on previous high-end iDEN models. Incorporated into this button is the status LED, which will glow when charging or flash different colors when the user has a missed alert. Below that, on the top flip portion, there is a camera button along with music controls. Holding the camera or play/pause key will launch their respective applications. At the bottom of the right side is the miniUSB charging port found in most Motorola phones. The PowerSource (hybrid iDEN/CDMA) phones are the first iDEN to utilize this charging port, but as the new Boost i425t has it we expect to see it going forward for all iDEN and PowerSource phones.

Handy Flip-Open Button

Camera Button and Music Controls

miniUSB charging port

The left side of the phone has a lanyard loop at the top, with the volume up/down rocker just underneath. Below that is the DC button, which sits just above the 2.5mm headphone jack. As with all iDEN phones this jack has a halo around it, allowing for headsets with DC compatibility via a quick press of the headsets multifunction button. Standard 2.5mm headsets can be used as well, but their multifunction button goes unused and will not trigger the Voice Command system and/or redial. On the top flip portion of the left side the user will find the microSD slot. We were very glad to see that this was easily accessible and not beneath the battery door.

Turning the Deluxe over the user finds a Nextel logo at the top of the battery door, the only place you will see the term “Nextel” used on the device. There is a latch that must be slid right to remove the battery door and the door comes off and goes on easily. It may be a minor detail, but this mechanism is very nice and adds to the quality feel of the phone. The battery capacity is not labeled, but a quick Google search of the part number reveals that it is a high capacity (though thin) 1100mAh. As is common, the battery must be removed to insert the SIM card into the bottom of the compartment, but since the SIM never has a reason to be removed this is not a nuisance like a hidden microSD card would be. The compartment is very tight, and the average user will have a hard time getting the battery out without using an object such as a pocket knife.

Walkie-Talkie speaker button and a multifunction button

At the top of the Deluxe sits the Walkie-Talkie speaker button and a multifunction button. At rest, this button will bring up the recent call list, and pressing the Walkie-Talkie key will dial the highlighted number. The multifunction button also acts as an end key with the flip close, ending a call or exiting a running program. The bottom of the phone houses the stereo speakers and is rounded/pointed so that they are front facing. The embossed accents running vertically empty into the speakers (or start from, depending from your perspective) making for a well integrated look.

Opening the flip reveals a 2.2” 262k color QVGA display. There is a noticeable quality advantage even over the V9m, whose display is nearly identical but only 65k colors. The display is bright and crisp, and the smaller border makes it appears bigger than it is. Above it is large, chrome colored earpiece. Below it sits the keypad, which is broken into an upper and lower half. Up top one will find a left and right soft key, five way directional pad, camera and back keys, and a send and end key. Below is a 12 key dial pad, nothing new here. Each key is individual, and the 5 key not only has a nub but is concave, making the pad easy to navigate on touch alone. The keys each have a very solid click to them, and when the ambient light sensor feels it is too dark the keys are backlit with a cool blue LED. The send and end keys are backlit green and red in low lighting conditions.

QVGA display

Overall the phone is very well designed; it is pleasing to the eye, feels great in your hand and is built very well. Despite the lack of metal, glass or soft touch paint there is no part of the Deluxe that feels flimsy or cheap. It should be noted, however, that this unit is not built to military specifications unlike many other iDEN phones.

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